You may be wondering, what exactly is required to be hired as a daycare employee? Each state has its own requirements to work at a daycare. For the state of Texas - it might be surprising, because the list isn’t long.
Minimum Requirements for Texas Daycare Employees
Some minimum hiring requirements for all daycare employees – including a daycare director – are:
- Caregivers at Texas daycares must be at least eighteen years old and have a high school or high school equivalent diploma.
- Caregivers must pass background checks, including background checks of criminal history, sex offender registry, and child abuse or neglect findings.
- Have a current medical record showing they are free of contagious tuberculosis.
- And complete a notarized licensing affidavit swearing to their criminal background history.
In Texas, directors of daycares caring for 13 children or more:
- must be at least 21-years old,
- have a high school diploma or its equivalent,
- and meet certain education and experience qualifications as defined by the state.
The education and experience qualifications for a director – at a minimum – require just 9 college credit hours in child development and 9 college credit hours in management, combined with just 3 years’ experience at a licensed childcare center. Director qualifications must be submitted to the state for verification and the individual director is then issued a director’s certificate showing they are qualified.
The list of qualifications is pretty short. And even this list comes with some exceptions where the state has deemed it okay. So you may wonder, “What else is in place to ensure children are being cared for by qualified people?” Well, in order to stay employed, all daycare employees must meet certain yearly training “clock hours” in the form of “on-the-job orientation,” pre-service training hours, pediatric first aid and CPR, continued annual training, and transportation training when the center offers transportation services.
All of these safety laws are in a handbook called “Minimum Standards for Childcare Centers” by the Texas Health and Human Services Commission. This handbook is available to everyone with a simple internet search, and we encourage all parents with children in daycare to have a copy.
In our experience as daycare injury attorneys, many daycares fail to follow these very basic minimum qualifications in employing caregivers and daycares. These failures mean that children are put in the care of people who are simply unqualified for the job. When daycares fail to follow these standards, children and families are at risk of serious, life-changing injuries.
Daycare Injury Lawyers Offer Free Resources for Parents
Our team offers free guides and resources on what to do if your child has been injured at a daycare. Our guides empower parents with important information on what to look for when choosing a daycare for their child.
If your child is the victim of negligence by an unqualified daycare or daycare employee, it’s important that you speak with an experienced daycare injury attorney. We know what daycares are required to do – and we know how to hold negligent daycares accountable for their actions. We are here to help your child and your family keep moving forward.
